Pleasure House Road, I am informed by an elderly woman who has lived on the
Thalia waterfront (the section where the pleasure house is located, was the
road one took to get to well... exactly that... a brothel.   It was built by
a somewhat mysterious madam, back in the 20s, and was a very popular stop
with the power establishment of Tidewater, Virginia, as well as the
Commonwealth at large, and its clientele came from as far away as New York.
As VaB developed, what had formerly been a popular out of the way get away
became an embarrassment, and it was closed after WWII.  Steinhilbers
Restaurant, which is nearby, was begun as the first Jewish country club,
then taken over by the family that still runs it.  Originally they provided
meals and entertainment for those visiting the Pleasure House.  The Madam's
house, quite grand at the time is still to be seen.  It was apparently built
on the site of an earlier house, but this gets a bit murky.

-- Stephan


on 6/29/03 9:37 PM, Lyle E. Browning at [log in to unmask] wrote:

> On Sunday, June 29, 2003, at 05:54 PM, [log in to unmask] wrote:
>
>>
>> Pleasure House Road still exists and is a few short miles from my
>> mother's
>> home. I have no "historical reference" to cite here, but I was always
>> taught
>> that the Pleasure House was a "gaming establishment" and tavern, but
>> that this
>> was much later in its history. It began, as I am informed, as a
>> plantation
>> house, was burned and rebuilt, and then became this tavern later on.
>> Unless I am
>> sadly mistaken, there was some remnant of an acting tavern even into
>> the middle
>> of the 20th century.
> I too had heard that it was in use into the middle of the 20th century,
> but then had a definitely salubrious reputation. We're dealing with
> about 300 years worth of history here. Undoubtedly over that time,
> things do change, back and forth. It wouldn't be the first time that an
> innocent name was taken for other purposes, and still later rescued and
> still later lost yet again.
>>
>> .... There was
>> in view Cape Henry, the Pleasure House, Fortress Monroe, the
>> old  Indian  Mound, the long beach reaching to the ocean at
>> Cape Henry, and the gay ships sailing up and  down, which
>> made a lasting impression on our memories.
> Now an old Indian Mound would indeed be interesting. Lots of stories
> about them, but none yet documented in the eastern part of the state.
>>
>> Somehow, I don't believe this venerable man would be speaking of a
>> house of
>> "personal services" being seen from a family picnic area.
> Agreed.
>>
>> There is also a Meeting Room within the US Naval Amphibious Base,
>> Little
>> Creek, Chief Petty Officer's Club, named after the Pleasure House.
>> Again, I do not
>> believe they would have institutionalized a house of ill repute.
> Little Creek is a HQ for the SEALS. Those guys would have picked up
> that name in a heartbeat.
>>
>> From "Gleanings on Walke Family Homes", Calvert Walke Tazewell:
>>
>> One of the Thoroughgood mansions, called the Pleasure
>> House,
> Sounds like the original meaning was meant as a beach resort of sorts,
> and probably later used for other purposes.
>
> It's pretty clear that some intensive research is needed to determine
> when the name started and in what context and to see how it's changed
> over the years.
>
> Lyle Browning
>
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